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"Currently, English is mandatory in all Mexican schools from seventh through ninth grade, although many private schools start as early as preschool. The result is a growing divide between rich and poor.
"Educators hope that by giving all Mexican students access to basic English, they will not only even out the playing field, they will also boost Mexico’s economy."
(My emphasis. From the Houston Chronicle, Feb. 2009 - more @ the URL)
You can track this info - I'm not sure if Mexico was able to implement @ the level they wanted to, due to the economy.
"In addition to Spanish-speaking Hispanic populations, younger generations of non-Hispanics in the United States seem to be learning Spanish in larger numbers due to the growing Hispanic population and increasing popularity of Latin American movies and music performed in the Spanish language. A 2009 American Community Survey conducted by the United States Census Bureau, showed that Spanish is the primary language spoken at home by over 35 million people aged 5 or older,[35] making the United States the world's fifth-largest Spanish-speaking community, outnumbered only by Mexico, Colombia, Spain, and Argentina.[36][37]"
(My emphasis - more @ the URL)
The same source puts English @ 80% of the US population speaking it, & 12.4% speaking Spanish. So roughly 1 in 8 people in the US speak Spanish - although proficiency isn't addressed in the Wikipedia article.
Given that Spanish can be a portal to Italian, French, Portuguese, Romanian, Latin, etc., I would expect Spanish to gain momentum over the years, as compared to English.
Or see (this one copies better than the other)
Top 30 Languages by Number of Native Speakers
Data source: Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 15th ed. (2005) & Wikipedia.org.
*
Language
approximate # of speakers
*
Where is it spoken as an official language?
1.
Mandarin Chinese
NATIVE: 873 million
2nd: 178 million
TOTAL: 1.051 billion
*
OFFICIAL: People's Republic of China, Republic of China, Singapore
2.
Hindi
NATIVE: 370 million
2nd:120 million
TOTAL: 490 million
*
OFFICIAL: India, Fiji
3.
Spanish
NATIVE: 350 million
2nd: 70 million
TOTAL: 420 million
*
OFFICIAL: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, United States (New Mexico, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela
4.
English
NATIVE: 340 million
TOTAL: 510 million
*
OFFICIAL: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Brunei, Cameroon, Canada, Dominica, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Fiji, The Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Hong Kong (People's Republic of China), India, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Maritius, Micronesia, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevs, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somolia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, Vanuatu, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
English is not just "some foreign language". It is mandatory or near-mandatory in the educational system in many countries in the world.
Needless to say Mexico is a neighbor of the US and thus I would assume young people here are highly motivated to learn English. However it is not the case. I do not want to judge whether it is good or bad, but I feel it is weird.
There's a lot of ambivalence on both sides between the US & Mexico. It goes back to the history of the two countries, the relationships between their sponsoring empires, how the Americas gained their independence, & how the relationships between US & Mexico played out after that. It's been a very bumpy road, the US has invaded Mexico a couple of times, marched into Mexico City, & so on. Florida, Louisiana, the now Southwest US were all part of either Spanish or French claims in the New World.
The US briefly considered annexing Mexico outright @ the end of the Mexican American War - but Congress finally decided that the demographics would be very difficult, & let go of the idea.
Most Mexicans that are fluent in English are going to be in one of three categories.
a) they in areas that either have a lot of tourist/expats living there (ie Cancun, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, etc)
b) have lived/worked in the US before
c) They are involved in jobs that require some knowledge of English such as international trade/finance, hospitality, etc.
Anyways I find the OP's rant to be hilarious since I would wager that there are more Mexicans who are fluent or have at least some knowledge of English than there are in China and Japan.
And I've explained to him/her a few times that those who live in TJ who are good English speakers work across the border in San Diego. Maybe that was them who cowardly responded with an anonymous reply as a reputation comment. Either way, the OP has avoided taking note of that. I think they just want to rant about Mexicans.
And I've explained to him/her a few times that those who live in TJ who are good English speakers work across the border in San Diego. Maybe that was them who cowardly responded with an anonymous reply as a reputation comment. Either way, the OP has avoided taking note of that. I think they just want to rant about Mexicans.
I have said many times that I talked to local people in TJ and quite a few young people I talked to spoke next to zero English, which was a surprise to me. Why can't you just understand it?
Given that Spanish can be a portal to Italian, French, Portuguese, Romanian, Latin, etc., I would expect Spanish to gain momentum over the years, as compared to English.
Or see (this one copies better than the other)
Top 30 Languages by Number of Native Speakers
Data source: Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 15th ed. (2005) & Wikipedia.org.
*
Language
approximate # of speakers
*
Where is it spoken as an official language?
1.
Mandarin Chinese
NATIVE: 873 million
2nd: 178 million
TOTAL: 1.051 billion
*
OFFICIAL: People's Republic of China, Republic of China, Singapore
2.
Hindi
NATIVE: 370 million
2nd:120 million
TOTAL: 490 million
*
OFFICIAL: India, Fiji
3.
Spanish
NATIVE: 350 million
2nd: 70 million
TOTAL: 420 million
*
OFFICIAL: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, United States (New Mexico, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela
4.
English
NATIVE: 340 million
TOTAL: 510 million
*
OFFICIAL: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Brunei, Cameroon, Canada, Dominica, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Fiji, The Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Hong Kong (People's Republic of China), India, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Maritius, Micronesia, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevs, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somolia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, Vanuatu, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
That post was talking about second language, not native language. Read back.
I have said many times that I talked to local people in TJ and quite a few young people I talked to spoke next to zero English, which was a surprise to me. Why can't you just understand it?
Tijuana is a center of migration to the United States. Not all the people you find in TJ is original from there, many are just there waiting to pass to USA, many are not even mexican but central american, haitians, or from some other part of the world.
If you expect all speak english to you, then you´re wrong. Speak other language is an option not an obligation.
Also why speak english if the majority of the people on the other side of the border in USA speak spanish?
I have said many times that I talked to local people in TJ and quite a few young people I talked to spoke next to zero English, which was a surprise to me. Why can't you just understand it?
So because YOU personally couldn't find any English speakers, you're just going to say that there are none? LOL Maybe they just didn't want to talk to you. I live in San Diego and have spent more time in TJ than you ever will. There are plenty of English speakers there and as I've already told you, many of them work on the US side of the border, why can't you just understand that?
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More than very few, 3 times the nearest other foreign
